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REngel's avatar
REngel
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2 years ago
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Development Tool EPM7256AETC

Hello, we have an old design with a Altera EPM7256AES. As we learned now, we have to support this design for extended periods. The original design was made with Max+Plus II V6.0 and was untouched fo...
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Programmable Logic Device
_AK6DN_'s avatar
_AK6DN_
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2 years ago

I have nothing but negative news re: the EPM7256A vs EPM7256AE.

I have QuartusII 13.0sp1 installed and it supports the AE series, not the A series.

I have QuartusII 6.1 and 9.1sp2 also available, and they both support both the A and AE series for DEVELOPMENT.

With respect to programming, however, the A series is NOT selectable. Just the AE series.

From the Altera MAX7000A/AE datasheet Sept 2003 v4.5, this comment on p.16:

The JTAG ID's for the EPM7128A vs EPM7128AE are different. Same difference applies to EPM7256A vs EPM7256AE.

So altho you can select the A series for development in QuartusII 6.1 or 9.1sp2, you CANNOT select the A series for programming.

Only the AE series parts show up in the programmer device selector.

My suggestion at this point would be to dump the A series parts and look for AE series equivalents.
Possibly the EPM3256A might be an alternative. The EPM7256AE certainly is.

There may be other versions of Quartus between 6.1, 9.1sp2, and 13.0sp1 (like 11.0 or 12.0) that handle the A series,
but I can't say as I don't have those versions installed and available. The release notes for QuartusII 2.1 mention support
for the 7xxxAE and 3xxxA series but nothing for the 7xxxA series. This is going all the way back to 2002.

JMACDUDE's avatar
JMACDUDE
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2 years ago

Thanks AK6DN,

You are correct sir, that is bad news.

I guess I can buy the ICs, build programs, but not actually use them.

I'm going to try using one of my old Max PlusII programs but my USB Blaster won't work so I'm buying a ByteBlaster(MV) and may yet save my boards.

I wonder if Intel/Altera would have a solution to using the EPM7256ATC100 in 2024?

Thanks for the info

John

  • _AK6DN_'s avatar
    _AK6DN_
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    2 years ago

    "I wonder if Intel/Altera would have a solution to using the EPM7256ATC100 in 2024? "

    As a direct fit/form/function compatible device? I highly doubt it. They are moving upscale and not interested in the low end.

    There are lower end devices in the MAX5/MAX10 family that would probably be acceptable alternatives.

    But they will all require a board/footprint redesign. No devices that would just drop in.

    • JMACDUDE's avatar
      JMACDUDE
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      2 years ago

      I guess that brings me to the next issue. I actually designed the PCB for EPM7256AETC100, but was only able to buy ATC chips from my normal vendors.

      The Compiler supports EPM7256 AETC, AETI chips and it seems I can buy these and replace the ones on the PCB

      However the programmer only supports EPM7256AE and EPM7256AET100

      I can't find the difference between these suffixes in the 7000A data sheets.

      If I replace the ATC chips with either AETI or AETC chips will I be able to program them with using the quartus programmer set to AE or AET?

      Thanks

      • JMACDUDE's avatar
        JMACDUDE
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        2 years ago

        Just another note - I was never able to find anything in the Max7000A data sheet about the EPM7256ATC variety ether.

        Is it the same pin out? And is there any way to program it?